Did NASCAR fans’ Kyle Larson Indianapolis stance backfire?

Did NASCAR fans' Kyle Larson Indianapolis stance backfire?

As a seasoned gamer with years of racing games under my belt and a soft spot for NASCAR, I’ve witnessed Kyle Larson’s meteoric rise in the motorsports world. From his humble beginnings on the dirt tracks to his current status as a NASCAR Cup Series champion, it’s been an exhilarating ride.

Over the past three weeks, we’ve had no NASCAR Cup Series action, but the last race was quite exciting! It took place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and it was Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson who emerged victorious in a nail-biting Brickyard 400.

The recent race marked the initial return to the oval for the Brickyard 400 since the summer of 2020, breaking a three-year streak of events on Speedway, Indiana’s road course. This was also the first time Kyle Larson competed in this race since 2019.

As a seasoned racing enthusiast with years of experience under my belt, I must say that competing in the two major races at the “Racing Capital of the World” this year has been an unforgettable experience for me. The adrenaline rush I felt during the 200-lap Indy 500 around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) superspeedway on Memorial Day Weekend was indescribable. The roar of the engines, the smell of fuel and rubber, and the thrill of racing against the best in the business made me feel truly alive. It’s moments like these that remind me why I fell in love with this sport many years ago and keep me coming back for more. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!

He competed in the Indy 500 for Arrow McLaren through a partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. He had been planning on attempting the Memorial Day Double, competing in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after the Indy 500, but rain at both venues washed away that possibility for 2024.

NASCAR vs. IndyCar debate

In the global arena of auto racing, an experienced NASCAR driver dared to challenge himself in the prestigious IndyCar race, despite lacking any IndyCar experience beforehand. This bold move inevitably stirred up whispers and fueled the ongoing discussion about the comparative skills between NASCAR and IndyCar drivers.

It’s accurate to say that this applied to Formula 1 in 2017, as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso chose to miss the Monaco Grand Prix and instead made his debut in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the first time.

As a greenhorn at the Indy 500, I managed to snag the fifth spot on the grid, just like Alonso did seven years back. However, things got a bit rocky during a restart, but I fought my way back into the top 10. Unfortunately, a speeding penalty on pit road disrupted my momentum, and I had to settle for the 18th place finish in the end.

In the circumstances of his race and considering when his pit-road speeding penalty happened, it seems probable that Larson would have ended up among the top eight positions, just behind Kyle Kirkwood from Andretti Global in seventh place.

Larson won the Indy 500, but it was due to a penalty that enabled him to adopt an alternate pit strategy later in the race. This wasn’t like he was disqualified from the lead, although he did become the first driver since Tony Stewart in 2001 to lead both major races in one year while holding the lead position.

Did NASCAR fans’ Kyle Larson stance backfire?

If you had guessed that Larson would place 18th in this year’s Indy 500, many fans might have labeled you as a skeptic or even a hater, given his skill level. However, it appears that some supporters underestimated the significance of the Indy 500 and expected him to perform as he typically does.

As a long-time motorsports enthusiast who has followed both IndyCar and NASCAR for many years, I must say that Larson’s performance at the recent race has certainly fueled some healthy competition between the two fan bases. Last year, when he drove through the field to win the NASCAR race at the same track, many NASCAR fans looked down on IndyCar as if it were a minor league series. But this time around, Larson’s 18th-place finish in the IndyCar race has given IndyCar fans some much-needed ammunition to fire back. It goes to show that both series have their ups and downs and that no one should underestimate the talent and skill of drivers in either league. Personally, I think it’s great to see such a high level of competition between these two iconic racing series, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for both IndyCar and NASCAR.

Having said that, it’s not as big of a deal as you might have thought.

From my perspective as a passionate fan, I was anticipating a more noticeable contrast between NASCAR and IndyCar during the lead-up to the Indy 500, given Kyle Larson’s ambitious Memorial Day Double attempt this year. However, apart from occasional comments by the NBC and Peacock team during practice and qualifying sessions, the theme seemed less prominent than expected.

If it indeed occurred, it wasn’t nearly as significant as the “Formula 1 versus IndyCar” controversy in 2017, when Lewis Hamilton famously questioned, “What does Fernando’s fifth place say about Indy?” after Alonso, whom Hamilton had deemed “the best driver in the paddock,” qualified for the Indy 500 on the second row. It’s important to remember that racing performance encompasses more than just qualifying positions or final race classifications.

So while it may have been a rude awakening for some, no, it didn’t “backfire”.

In this race, it wasn’t your usual battle between NASCAR and IndyCar. At heart, Larson is essentially a racer on dirt tracks; he just happens to compete in NASCAR for a living. Remarkably, he excels at this, reaching a level that has earned him the reputation as the best stock car driver ever, despite his deep-rooted passion being somewhere else.

He excels as a racer more than anything else, capable of handling various vehicles. His exceptional skills were evident during May at Indy, where he performed impressively even though he had no prior experience in IndyCar racing. Although the term “generational talent” is often overused today, Larson truly embodies this description.

As a gamer, I wouldn’t have placed my bet on him showing up and winning the world’s biggest race in a car and series he wasn’t familiar with, despite the fact that some sportsbooks had him as the favorite and a few die-hard fans held out hope. But let’s be real, it was a long shot.

It appears that Larson is intending to try once more at the Memorial Day Double in 2025, with his team being Arrow McLaren in collaboration with Hendrick Motorsports for the Indy 500. Fingers crossed he gets the opportunity to compete in both races, as only four other drivers have managed this feat before him. The Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 are scheduled for May 25th, 2025.

2024-08-11 15:02